Easter with the Brands

We enjoyed a great visit with our friends Steve and Jen Brand, and their kids Juliana and Evan. They arrived from Lloydminster in time for lunch on Friday, and stayed until after supper on Saturday. The kids all played exceptionally well together. The girls only had one or two small disagreements to mediate.

Evelyn and Juliana helped make chocolate muffins (mix courtesy of K-A) then had a tea party - complete with tiara's and feather boas (courtesy of Grandpa and Grandma).



They also decorated plastic easter eggs with stickers. Once they finished that, the girls hid some eggs for their brothers to find. It was so sweet to watch them help their brothers find their eggs. (We filled the boy's eggs with teddy graham cookies and the girls had a couple small treats in each of theirs. ) Once the boys had found all of their eggs, and had enjoyed their treats, we hid the eggs for the girls in more challenging hiding spots.


We let the girls try to have a sleepover in Evelyn's bed. Juliana was at the foot of the bed, Evelyn at the head. We heard them giggling and talking for quite a while. They each came out for extra hugs a couple times, then, around 9 pm, Evelyn fell asleep, but Juliana remained awake. At that point, we called the sleepover off and Juliana was tucked in downstairs. I think they appreciated that they got to try having a sleepover.


Ethan and Evan parallel played a lot. They are both into cars and walking. Most of their time was spent side by side, playing with their cars. Ethan would try to give Evan a hug but he would just lean his back against Evan. (He tried to hug Lillian-Ruth the same way) Evan gave Ethan hugs a few times too. Those two played very well together and did not have a single fight. I think it helps that they are both used to having their toys taken from them by their sisters.

The girls played outside in the snow a bit. They each of them got stuck in hidden sink holes, but neither of them lost their boot, so I would call it a success. They had a snowball fight, which was basically a hit-Bev-with-a-snowball-fight. They certainly enjoyed it!





We went for a walk to the store on Saturday. The girls pet a friendly cat along the way and named it "Mr.Whiskers" (we're not sure if it's a Mr. or a Ms.)






On the way home, they got to have shoulder rides with their Daddies. I remember them being perched on their Dad's shoulders the day we moved to Lac La Biche. They have grown so much since then!


Steve and Jen introduced us to the board game "Ticket to Ride" and we played quite a few rounds while the kids napped or played quietly. We enjoyed it so much we bought the game for ourselves on Monday and introduced it to the Sahota's.

It was a great visit with great friends.